Dartmouth Engineer

Terry McGuire Th’82 became the new chair of Thayer School’s Board of Overseers January 2 for a four-year term. He succeeds John W. Ballard II ’55 ThTu’56, a member of the board since 1989 and chair since 1998.

“John has done a fantastic job of helping Thayer move forward,” says McGuire. “My job is to continue the work he started.”

During Ballard’s chairmanship, Thayer School built the MacLean Engineering Sciences Center and increased the endowment, the Annual Fund, and funded research. Ballard, founder of Angeli Parvi, a group of industry leaders who aid and fund new Dartmouth entrepreneurial ventures, says, “Thayer is very fortunate to have a person of Terry’s breadth, conceptual ability, and knowledge of applied engineering and education.”

An overseer since 2000, McGuire is co-founder and managing general partner of Boston-based Polaris Venture Partners. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, M.S. from Thayer School, and B.S. in physics and economics from Hobart College. The founder of three companies — Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Inhalation Research, and MicroCHIPS — he received a 2005 Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Life Sciences.

In further overseers news, Edward Keible Jr. ’65 Th’66, ’67 has joined the board for a three-year term. Keible, who holds an M.B.A. from Harvard, is president and CEO of Endwave Corp. (formerly Endgate Corp.), which designs and manufactures radio frequency subsystems that support high-speed data signals in broadband wireless access systems. Previously, as senior vice president at Raychem Corp., he was named Export Executive of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce and received the Smithsonian Award for Computer Aided Manufacturing. He holds three patents in the fields of microelectronics and telecommunications.

LOOKING AHEAD: Joseph Helble takes up Thayer's deanship in September. Photograph courtesy of Joseph Helble.

Joseph J. Helble, professor of chemical engineering and a member of the environmental engineering program at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, has been named the twelfth dean of Thayer School. He will assume the appointment in September.

“I’m honored and excited to join the Thayer School of Engineering,” Helble said upon the April 4 announcement. “The Thayer School and Dartmouth are well known for their strong commitments to research and teaching. I am particularly impressed by the ability of the Thayer faculty to blend the two by incorporating the latest research, both from their labs and from the scientific community, into the classroom.”

“We are delighted that Joe Helble will be joining Thayer School as its next dean and as a member of its faculty,” says Professor William Lotko, who has served as interim dean since July 2004. “It became clear during interviews that Joe’s professional outlook and interests are well aligned with Thayer’s aspirations and interdisciplinary style of engineering education and research. The broad consensus for his appointment among faculty, staff, students, overseers, and friends of Thayer School indicates not only that he is the right leader for the School today, but also that the School’s various constituencies will be working together to ensure his success.”

Helble earned his B.S. in chemical engineering at Lehigh University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He joined the UConn faculty in 1995. As department head he increased the number of Ph.D. candidates and doubled undergraduate enrollments in chemical engineering. His research interests include air pollution and nanotechnology.

For more photos, visit our Faculty and Instructors set on Flickr.

FAREWELL: Outgoing Dean Lewis M. Duncan presided over his last Thayer School Investiture in June before taking up presidency of Rollins College. Photograph by Mark Washburn.

Dean Lewis M. Duncan took his leave of Thayer School in July to become president of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. “Leaving Dartmouth is bittersweet,” said Duncan at his farewell gathering in June. “I’m excited about the new opportunities and challenges awaiting at Rollins, but saddened by leaving the exceptional Dartmouth academic community.”

During his six-year tenure, Duncan oversaw a tripling of Thayer School’s research activity, added breadth and depth to the school’s interdisciplinary focus, increased technology education for liberal arts students, expanded information technology initiatives with the College, and fostered entrepreneurial activities. Duncan also provided the leadership to bring the plans for the new MacLean Engineering Sciences Center to fruition.

As Thayer School conducts a national search for Duncan’s successor, Professor William Lotko is serving as interim dean and Professor Charles Wyman as interim senior associate dean for academic affairs.

Lotko joined the faculty in 1984 and served as senior associate dean for academic affairs for the past five years. During that time he organized a coalition of faculty to improve and expand Thayer School’s signature interdisciplinary systems approach to the Dartmouth undergraduate engineering core curriculum. “In today’s world, the emphasis is increasingly on interdisciplinary research and teaching,” he observes. “We can lead the way.”

Lotko also worked closely with Duncan to advance Thayer School’s academic and research programs and to develop new facilities. “As interim dean,” he says, “I am committed to working with our faculty, staff, and overseers, together with colleagues across Dartmouth, to ensure that the School remains on this forward trajectory during the transition period.”

An expert on space plasma physics, Lotko is principal investigator on Dartmouth’s Sun-Earth Connection Theory program and a co-investigator for the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling.

Professor Wyman, the Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering Design, joined the faculty in 1998 after a long career in industry. His investigations into technologies for converting cellulosic biomass into fuels and other materials include analyses of economic and industrial challenges inherent in making cellulosic ethanol a commercial reality.

“The combination of Bill Lotko’s extensive service to Thayer School and Charlie Wyman’s previous administrative experience will provide strong leadership during the interim period,” says Dartmouth Provost Barry Scherr. Thayer School hopes to name a new dean by next spring.

For more photos, visit our Faculty and Instructors set on Flickr.